EDITOR'S COLUMN

Friends

We are well into monsoon mania. The devastation it has caused to Uttarakhand is to be seen to be believed. Nature’s fury was in full flow. Thousands have died. A full account of the dead may take months to know. The flow of the water, being so forceful must have swept  people away in many places with absolutely no succour coming their way. It was unprecedented. The loss of property could be very huge with townships being washed away. Surely it will take years for it to come back to what it was. It is a kind of national catastrophe, although that feeling has not yet sunk in southern parts of the country.

So far rescue efforts have been inadequate compared to the need, partly due to the continued unkind inclement weather. An IAF rescue chopper had crashed with 19 aboard, with all feared to have died. Of course, with some 50000 stranded in different areas of the upper parts of the state, there has got to be huge rescue operation. Army is reportedly been exemplary in their rescue act. However, possible deaths due to hunger and disease cannot be ruled out under the circumstances. Union Home Minister was honest in admitting lack of co-ordination among different government agencies.

A disaster Management Authority (DMA) was set up in 2007, with the Chief Minister being the head, had not met at all, to frame guidelines, according to CAG audit report. There was no plan of action in place in case of such an eventuality including an early warning system. 

Reportedly, National Disaster Management Authority had warned the state government about the development of large number of hotels, housing complexes and lodges on open areas normally available for the rain water to flow. These developments have been attributed to be one of the major cause for the flood and inundation. Thus it is the human avarice, which is an all India malaise, that caused the terrible devastation in Uttarakhand.

Being a seismic zone in an eco sensitive area, Uttarakhand’s upper reaches are prone to earthquakes, landslides, flash flood besides cloud bursts. In the past it had also experienced forest fire. Hence the importance of DMA need not be over emphasized which unfortunately have remained dysfunctional. As usual we are very poor learners. Surely DMA will be activated in coming months, if not days to put in place an apparatus to quick start any process of assistance in case of disaster of the kind that Uttarakhand is experiencing. Hope, as you read it, things have improved greatly.

As usual Month-in-Perspective is in place with relevant comments. Space constraint is the normal limitation to cover all happenings of the last month.

There were at least two events of past weeks that we thought should be highlighted to whatever extent possible. The Naxal attack in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, on a political procession of mainly Congress workers and leaders, which killed 27 had to be spoken of, for the seriousness it commanded. We have taken it up under Focus. Similarly, the spot fixing imbroglio in the cricket world of India also was important enough to be highlighted for the sheer craziness of the ‘theatre of absurd’. We have taken it up in Focus. Hope readers will find these interesting. Rest of issues are as usual. Do revert with your inputs.